Arista Networks dropped some additional backstory on its recent VeloCloud acquisition, providing channel partners and customers with some insight into why it made the deal and what they can expect from the newly combined entity, and also that it’s maintaining some of the Broadcom-mandated programs.

The details came this week as part of an Arista-hosted webinar touting how the VeloCloud SD-WAN platform will bolster Arista’s overall capabilities in the market.

Brendan Gibbs, area VP for Arista, explained that the acquisition itself was based on connectivity. Gibbs noted that while Arista has a robust stance in the data center and campus/branch networking space, “what we were lacking was something to really connect those branch centers to the campus headquarters, and that's where VeloCloud comes in.”

“VeloCloud brings best-in-class, industry leading connectivity to help bridge that gap, to bridge the connectivity gap that Arista had for connecting branch offices back to the campus headquarters,” Gibbs said.

This connectivity includes multiple options, “whether it's cloud WAN connectivity from a cloud provider, whether it's a managed service from embedded service provider, or it's just direct enterprise connectivity over some sort of direct internet links from their own do-it-yourself-type of approach, it brings a multiplicity of connectivity options,” Gibbs added.

That connectivity can plug into Arista’s campus switching products and Wi-Fi access points “for global SD-WAN and cloud WAN connectivity,” Gibbs said. “The VeloCloud edge solution really starts to be a perfect complement to the campus wired and wireless solutions that Arista has.”

Arista will also gain some continuity in the deal as VeloCloud co-founder Sanjay Uppal will join their executive team as GM and VP. Uppal was an early VeloCloud CEO before the firm was acquired by VMware, when he switched to various executive positions, changes that also continued when VMware was acquired by Broadcom.

What’s changing at VeloCloud?

Uppal said that VeloCloud will benefit from new technology and go-to-market integration opportunities from Arista. These will allow for VeloCloud to expand the depth of its networking focus and provide a broader platform for sales channels.

VeloCloud will be moving forward with several programs and systems developed under the short of amount of time it was under Broadcom’s control. One most dear to the intended channel audience is the VeloCloud Titan partner program, which will be re-branded as “VeloCloud MSP,” but continue with the architecture it inherited from Broadcom last year.

Uppal, who at that time served as VP and GM of Broadcom’s Software-Defined Edge division, explained that the program followed Broadcom’s stated push of simplified licensing portability.

“Previously, what we would say is, if you're a partner then you have to identify which end enterprise that you're providing these licenses to,” Uppal said. “With the new Titan partner program, that's going to be simplified so you can actually port licenses from one to another, not across geographies, but in the same geography.”

This aligned with license portability changes that have drawn considerable consternation from long-time VMware customers used to perpetual licenses.

Arista’s management also touted VeloCloud’s VeloRAIN (robust AI networking) launch from last year, which infused AI into the SD-WAN platform. That infusion allows VeloRAIN to identify encrypted application traffic, which allows for it to prioritize edge AI applications that can support quality and service-level requirements.

VeloCloud is also maintaining an open secure access service edge (SASE) approach. VeloCloud technology executive Kangwarn Chinthammit explained that this includes support for a single-vendor SASE provided by VeloCloud or the ability to integrate other secure service edge (SSE) vendors.

Mauricio Sanchez, senior director for enterprise security and networking research at Dell’Oro Group, previously told SDxCentral that VeloCloud’ SASE angle could be a significant growth opportunity for Arista.

“It gets Arista one foot into the enterprise WAN landscape but they need to quickly decide do they want to play with what they have and just extract as much value out of the current technology that they have or do they want to commit to continue to expand their SD-WAN [market opportunity] to the full SASE [market opportunity]," Sanchez said. "Because right now, they only cover, let's just say 30% to 40% of the SASE opportunity, which that 30%, 40% is net new for Arista, but that means that there's another 60% to 70% that is still there for them to take home.”

That decision could mean another potential Arista acquisition, this time focused on cybersecurity or SSE.

“They need to have the conversations about, ‘well, are we going to be happy with the returns on just the constrained part of the market that we're going to go be able to go attack,’ or do they have the desire to go capture the flag at top of the hill and go all in by acquiring an SSSE vendor,” Sanchez said. “I don't think there's necessarily, near term, an easy answer for that. I think they need to really analyze what their appetite for risk and the expansion is.”

Arista getting channel partners on board

The Arista webinar’s channel partner focus is significant as some have pointed to the importance of getting both Arista’s current partners up to speed with upcoming updates as well as pacifying VeloCloud partners that are coming out of what was a hectic 18 months under Broadcom’s umbrella.

“Arista will have to rebuild some of the trust in the channel, with many of those relationships having frayed following Broadcom’s takeover,” financial analyst firm William Blair noted in a report on the Arista acquisition.

Sanchez concurred, explaining that Arista will have its work cut out in terms of re-energizing momentum around VeloCloud.

“I haven't run into any channel partners that are necessarily happy with the relationship with Broadcom, especially on the VMware side,” Sanchez said. “Even though VeloCloud hadn't got sucked up into that completely … the tractor beam had been put there, but now the fact that VeloCloud is outside of that tractor beam is going to play into goodwill for people. They’re going to maybe say, ‘Arista is a networking company, and they clearly are very engineering driven there. They care about delivering good technology.’ So I think there's going to be a significant amount of goodwill or benefit of the doubt.”